


The Keys Led Me To You

by anxiousdraco



Series: Reddie Soulmate Fics [1]
Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Reddie, Stenbranlon - established, benverly - Freeform, richie is famous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiousdraco/pseuds/anxiousdraco
Summary: On your fifteenth birthday, you receive your Soulmark. Your Soulmark is something that is related to your Soulmate's personality. When Eddie wakes up with a grand piano on his chest, it's not the instrument he expected. But after seven years of confusion, he ends up right where he needs to be.I suck at summaries. Reddie, established background Benverly, mentioned Stenbranlon.





	The Keys Led Me To You

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote all of this at three am and had my friend Elise beta it while I slept. All remaining mistakes are mine. Also, this got me out of a writing slump so although I'm happy with it, it's not as good as I want it to be. Thank you for reading! You can find me on tumblr @ richiefkntozier.

In this day and age, Soulmarks kind of sucked. On one hand, if you were just a normal person, who _didn’t_ live on the internet, Soulmarks weren’t too big of a deal. However, if you were a person who _did_ live on the internet, they sucked. Being a celebrity, or even an internet personality, meant your entire life was put on display for the whole world to see. If you didn’t cover your Soulmark -- which was fairly common, not everyone felt they needed to hide it -- you had the chance of either a paparazzi seeing it, or a fan, or a news anchor, or this, that, and the other. So, most people with a following liked to keep theirs covered. To some people, Soulmarks were a very important, very intimate part of life. They proved that you had someone that the Universe made specifically for you. Someone that, when it came down to it, was made from the same bits of stardust that you were made from. This person was someone you were meant to be with, meant to never stray from. The Universe would bring you together and nothing could pull you apart.

But for Richie Tozier, Soulmarks sucked and didn’t suck. On one hand his Soulmark was very, very specific. It was a medicine tray. It was a light blue color, and had no weekday markings (the SMTWTFS part that some had). It was on the upper part of his right bicep, and his t-shirts usually covered it. On the other hand, _what the fuck kind of mark is a fucking med tray_. Did that mean his Soulmate is sick? Was his Soulmate chronically ill? If so, was it a terminal illness? In all honesty, the med tray could just mean they had wicked allergies, and that’s what Richie hoped. He spent his childhood having his two best friends, Bill and Stan, both get their marks on their 15th birthdays, and becoming Soulmates. Well, not _becoming_ Soulmates, but they were closer than they were before and Richie was still single with a damn med tray on his arm.

As he grew up, everyday he would check to make sure he still had his mark. See, when your Soulmate passed, your mark faded from existence. In some cases, you might get a new one. But most of the time, they faded away and you were left Soulmate-less in what seemed like a sea of happy couples. There was also the rare case where you had _two_ Soulmarks, meaning you had two Soulmates. Guess who had two Soulmarks? Yep, Bill and Stan. Stan had a paper boat for Bill, and later on developed a small barn door for Mike. Bill had a kippah for Stan, and later on, a sheep for Mike. And there Richie was, single, with a lone med tray. 

Again, it was a digital age. Some people posted their Soulmarks on social media as soon as they got them. Others kept them hidden under clothes or bandages, or something else. Richie, luckily, almost always had his 98% covered. Not 100% because the bottom part of the tray usually stopped about half an inch past where his sleeves stopped. Bill, Stan, and Mike tried not to be super couple-y in Richie’s presence, but Richie hated it. They shouldn’t have had to hold back their happiness just because Richie was alone.

But eventually, things took a bit of a turn when Richie’s covers blew up on Youtube.

;;

It was nearing 100 degrees in LA and Richie wanted more than anything to wear a goddamn tank top but he just couldn’t. He spent seven years covering his Mark with t-shirts and this was no different. Yes, it might’ve been ten times hotter in LA than New York at any given time, but he was used to using t-shirts to cover it, and Richie would be damned if he’d show his Mark to the world. He would only swim in a private pool with no one else around, and he never even walked around shirtless. Makeup was always an option to cover it, but finding the perfect color to match his skin was just too much work. Richie just wished he had an easily hidden one like Stan’s paper boat. It was right on his hip where the band of his boxers were, so it was always hidden unless he was naked. Lucky fucker.

So yes, it was nearing 100 degrees, and although Richie had the money to run his AC to death, he preferred not to, plus he had to keep it off when recording or else it would interfere with his mic. Sighing, Richie threw on his thinnest black t-shirt and got his set-up ready. He was recording a cover of Talk Too Much by COIN today. Hopefully he would get it perfect on his first or second try, and not end up recording until 3 am because he was a damn perfectionist.

;;

Eddie woke up on his fifteenth birthday with a smile on his face. Today was the day! He jumped out of bed, almost literally, and checked himself all over in his full length mirror. He saw it as soon as he stripped off his shirt. Honestly, Eddie was expecting something smaller. On his chest, off to the side, sat a black grand piano. It covered almost his entire left pec. So, Eddie assumed, he was meant to be with someone who loved music. That was good...except his boyfriend, James, didn’t play piano. He played the flute. That was not good…

A month previous, Eddie’s boyfriend James woke up with a fanny pack inked onto his neck. Eddie took that as a good sign. After all, who else carried a fanny pack in Derry? But now, as Eddie stared at the large grand piano inked into his chest, he felt like he needed about ten aspirators instead of the singular one he owned. James wasn’t his soulmate?

“Eddie-bear, are you awake? It’s time for school!” _Shit, Eddie was going to have to tell James they weren’t Soulmates._

“Coming, Ma, just getting dressed…” Thank Christ for the dreary Derry weather, because Eddie could wear sweaters forever and thus hide his godforsaken chest piece forever.

Eddie knew his mom didn’t really like the topic of Soulmates, so he knew better than to say anything to her. But he needed Bev and Ben’s opinions ASAP. He gave his mom a short kiss on the cheek and took off for school.

;;

Bev and Ben were waiting at the bike rack like every morning. “Eddie! Did you get your flute?” Ben asked right away.

Eddie sighed in response. He locked up his bike and turned to his best friends.

“Well, I didn’t get a _flute_ but I did get an instrument.”

“What do you mean? James only plays the flute, right?” Bev looked worried.

“Yeah. Unless he secretly can play a fucking grand piano.”

Bev and Ben’s eyes widened in unison. They were definitely Soulmates.

“A grand piano? Where?” Ben was upset, of course, but he had studied Soulmarks more than anyone else Eddie knew.

“It’s huge. It covers almost the entire left side of my chest.”

“Aww, right above your heart!” Bev offered a soft smile, “It might not be a flute, but you have to admit it’s pretty damn cute. Right?”

Eddie had to smile back, of course. “Yeah. Yeah, it is cute. Sadly, though, it’s not a flute!” Eddie’s voice unwillingly rose at the end. “Ben, can you look at it in the bathroom? I know it’s nearly impossible to find any clue past the mark itself, but still.”

“Don’t worry, Eddie. It’s gonna be okay!”

The bell rang for them to go inside. Bev kissed Ben on the cheek, and the boys separated from her. “Ben, what do I do? I know it’s not the end of the world, but I was really hoping this one thing would go right for me.”

“Eddie, it’s alright. Believe it or not, my Mark didn’t make sense at first. Bev has an open book as a Mark, which signifies my love for reading. I call her January Embers, so we were expecting a small fire design or something like that. Instead I have a small snowflake. I panicked when I saw it.”

Although extremely surprised, Eddie nodded along.

“Like, fire and snow are two very different things, right? So I was freaking out, and she was freaking out. But then we realized. January. We were so focused on ‘embers’ we completely forgot ‘January!’” Ben smiled wide, and Eddie mirrored it. “What I’m saying, is maybe James _will_ play piano, or is _learning_ to play it. Our Mark isn’t always what we think it will be.”

They both walked into the bathroom after checking for the Bower’s Gang. Eddie opened the handicapped stall door and Ben followed him in. Ben locked it and looked at Eddie. “Alright, now or never. Five minutes till first period.”

Eddie lifted his shirt up with a deep sigh. He looked down at his Mark. Yep, still a giant grand piano. “Oh, Eddie, it’s beautiful…” Ben sighed too, but on a happier note. “Oh, it’s so beautiful, Eddie. I know it’s not what you expected but it’s so, so lovely,” Ben slowly reached out, looking up to get Eddie’s consent.

“You can touch it, Ben. I trust you.”

Ben nodded and swept his fingers across Eddie’s piano. “This might sound weird, but, can I take a picture later? It’s so beautiful…”

This made Eddie laugh, “There are more adjectives than just ‘beautiful’ but yes. But right now we really need to get to class.”

Ben made a sound of approval, and they took off for class.

;;

_You know I talk too much / honey come put your lips on mine / and shut me up / we can blame it all on human nature  
stay cool / it’s just a kiss / oh why you gotta be so talkative? / I talk too much / we talk too much _

Richie perfected his cover on the second try. A record, honestly. He edited the video quickly, and uploaded it to Youtube. Over the past two years, Richie’s channel had blown up and he had a bunch (okay, a million-ish) of subscribers and supporters. With this came money, but also a ton of questions about his Mark and Soulmate. 

Humans were curious by nature, but wasn’t anyone ever taught etiquette? It was super rude to ask someone about their Mark, especially if you didn’t actually know them. Also, it was super rude to ask about someone’s Mark if you _knew they were single_. 

Richie tweeted about his new video and closed twitter before he could check his replies. There always seemed to be the fans who responded to every tweet asking about his Soulmate. Honestly, Richie wanted to block them, but that would look super shady.

;;

_New Video from Trashmouth Tozier: Talk Too Much // COIN piano and voice cover._

“Hey, Bev, your phone went off!” Eddie read the notification, since they were best friends, after all. “Someone uploaded a video on Youtube.”

“Ooh, is it Trashmouth?” Bev called from the other room. She, Eddie, and Ben had all packed up and moved to LA and they were in the midst of unpacking. Eddie had already unpacked his entire room since he didn’t have a lot, so he was resting on their gross Craiglist couch. It had been seven years since he got his piano tattoo and his heart still skipped a beat when he read the word piano in almost any context.

“Yeah, a new cover,” He responded, sticking a goldfish cracker in his mouth.

“Nice!” Eddie heard Ben respond, and he ran out from around the corner. “Thank God I already unpacked my xbox, we can play the video on the TV!”

Bev entered then, “Oh, that’ll be so cool!”

“Who’s this Trashmouth dude? And what the hell kind of name is that?”

Bev and Ben just snickered, and Bev explained, “His real name is Richie. He said in a video that his friends all call him Trashmouth because he cusses a lot.”

“Oh,” was all Eddie said.

Ben pulled up the video and let it play.

“Hello hello pals it’s Trashmouth! Today I’m using my beautiful old keyboard to cover Talk Too Much by COIN! It’s been stuck in my head all day. Also, for those who don’t follow me on twitter, I’m in the process of getting a grand piano!”

Eddie’s heart stopped, and he involuntarily let out a squeak.

Bev smiled and so did Ben.

“Yes, yes, after many a verbal tussle with my apartment manager, I’m finally getting one! It’s been, what, six months in the making? But she will be here soon, and I will film her arrival! Now, without further ado, some music…”

Eddie felt like he wasn’t breathing during the whole video. Richie was beautiful, had a beautiful voice, and _played piano._ Could it be?

After the video finally ended, Bev turned to Eddie, “No, he doesn’t have his Soulmate yet. At least as far as we know.”

“Bev, he’s so pretty,” Eddie pouted, “He’s gorgeous, ugh.”

“We know,” Ben replied, “He’s just your type!” Eddie shot him a glare at that. 

Eddie nearly fainted. “Okay, first we move to the _opposite coast_ and then you show me this, this, _gorgeous man_ , and then you tell me he _doesn’t_ have a Soulmate, _and_ he plays a grand fucking piano? I need a nap.”

And thus, Eddie went up to his room and promptly slept.

;;

Richie lived on the top floor of his apartment building. The top floor was six floors up. He was having a grand piano delivered. They could use the elevator to get it to his floor but he had to find someone to take it _into_ his apartment. He was scrawny white kid, how the hell was he going to lift that? Bill, Stan, and Mike were in fucking Hawaii, and he had no other friends to help him move shit. Ugh.

Thus Richie decided to stand in the lobby and ask for help, like a weirdo. As far as he knew, no one in his apartment building knew he was ‘famous’, or at least they don’t seem to know. Some new tenants moved in a couple floors down so hopefully one of them would be available help.

Currently, his grand piano was sitting in the hallway on the sixth floor. Luckily, he was the only tenant on that floor at the moment, so it was safe. But also, it was just fucking sitting there until Richie could find someone to help him.

;;

Eddie was walking back to his building after grabbing some Starbucks. If Eddie was back in Maine right now, he would be bundled up in a sweater drinking a shitty hot cocoa from the local coffee shop, but instead he was walking around LA in a tank top, drinking an iced mocha coffee, so life was pretty good. 

As Eddie entered the lobby he saw someone he never thought he would see. Or at least not in his building. A couple feet from the door, Richie Tozier was standing at the lobby desk, flirting obnoxiously with the front desk assistant, who happened to be Bev. Now, Bev loved Richie’s music, but she was devoted to Ben. And Eddie was kind of annoyed watching Richie flirt with her. Who cared how cute he was, Bev was happily taken!

So Eddie marched over to the desk, ready to kick some butt, when Bev smiled at him. “Hi, Eddie! I was just talking to Richie, and he needs some help moving his _grand piano_ ,” Bev death stared him when she said those words, “into his room. Would you mind helping?”

Eddie wanted to kick Bev’s face in. “No, I don’t mind,” he found himself saying with a smile.

;;

Richie got off talking with the new front desk assistant, a redhead named Bev, who he took a liking to. She already had her Soulmate, in fact they had just moved here with their friend, Eddie, who didn’t have his Soulmate. “We all grew up together in Maine. Ben and I are planning to get married soon, but Eddie doesn’t know that yet. We really want him to find his Soulmate first.”

“Your roommate doesn’t have his Soulmate yet? How old is he?” Richie was astounded; people almost always met their Soulmate before eighteen, and Richie had never met anyone as old as him without a Soulmate.

“He’s twenty-one. He’s super annoyed that he doesn’t have his Mate yet, understandably, but he also kind of got his heart broken the day he got his mark.”

Richie questioned that.

“Well, he was dating a boy named James, who had a fanny pack as a mark. We all thought this meant they were Soulmates, as Eddie used to carry one for all his medication,” Richie’s eyes lit up at this, “But then, Eddie woke up with a piano on his chest and not a flute. James doesn’t play piano, and never has. So Eddie had to break up with someone he truly thought he was meant for.”

“Wait, Eddie has a piano mark?”

“Yes.”

“And Eddie takes medication.”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

“Why?” Bev asked, although she felt she already knew.

“Okay, Bev, listen. I don’t tell people this ‘cause, you know, it’s personal. But I’m twenty-one, and I don’t have a Soulmate. But...I play piano, and this is my mark…” Richie lifted his sleeve to show Bev a blue medicine tray mark on his bicep. Bev gasped, although she wasn’t too surprised.

“Eddie’s your soulmate!” Bev nearly screamed.

“Shh, sh, sh, yes maybe, he might be. What kind of piano does he have as a mark? Just, uh, out of curiosity.”

Bev smiled wide. Out of her periphery she saw Eddie walk in and decided to use it to her advantage. She leaned close to Richie, “A grand piano.”

And, almost too quickly, Eddie appeared at the desk.

;;

All too suddenly, Eddie was alone in a relatively small elevator with a man he found incredibly attractive. Richie was to Eddie’s left, and Eddie could see a little bit of his Mark peeking out from under his shirt. If Eddie moved a certain way, you would be able to see _his_ Mark, which at that point had been only about a foot away from Richie’s.

As Eddie was thinking about Marks and how odd it was that his felt warm, the elevator _ding_ ed signifying they were at the sixth floor. Wait, Eddie was about to see Richie’s apartment too. Ugh.

“Well, here we are,” Richie held his arm out signalling Eddie to go first.

Eddie saw the grand piano sitting in the hallway and wanted to run away and towards it simultaneously. It was truly beautiful; it shimmered under the hallway lights, each key shining brighter than the last, and the black keys each had a beautiful matte finish on them. He was in awe. Partially because, yes, it was _gorgeous_ , but also...this was _his_ piano. The one on his chest that he looked at every day. It was like the Universe took a snapshot of this moment, in this hallway, and inked it into Eddie’s chest.

“She’s a beauty isn’t she?” Richie’s voice brought Eddie out of his reverie. “I named her Maggie, after my mother.”

“Oh, Richie, she’s so pretty!” Eddie slowly walked towards the piano -- Maggie -- and swept his fingers along the keys. His touch was feather-light, nowhere near enough pressure to make a sound, and his eyes felt heavy.

“Whoa, Eds, are you crying?” Richie walked up to Eddie, worried.

Eddie reached up to touch his eyes, “Oh, I guess I am.” He let out a shaky laugh.

Richie put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, “What’s wrong? Are you alright?” He gestured for Eddie to sit on the piano bench, and followed when Eddie did.

“Yeah. I, uh, I know Soulmates aren’t really an ‘I-met-you-fifteen-minutes-ago’ conversation topic but. My Soulmark is a grand piano. And it looks exactly like yours,” Eddie paused, “Your piano, I mean.”

Richie was quiet for some time, and Eddie didn’t mind. It made him a little nervous, but it was nice to say it out loud.

After a few minutes of silence and staring at the floor, Richie sighed. Eddie looked to him to search his face, but instead he saw Richie lifting his t-shirt sleeve up.

Eddie gasped. “That’s my childhood medicine tray.”

Without thinking, Eddie ran his hand over Richie’s mark, just as he had over the piano moments ago. When he looked up at Richie, he was smiling. “I guess we’re Soulmates, then.”

“I guess we are.”

They heard the elevator ding, and looked to it in confusion. After a moment, the doors opened and Bev appeared.

“Hey, not to be creepy but I’ve been watching on the cameras and although this is really cute and I’m really happy for you, please move this stupid piano into your apartment. We have potential tenants checking out the building and they’ll be up here in less than thirty minutes,” Bev then blew a kiss at them and winked at Eddie, and closed the elevator doors, descending back to the lobby.

“Damn,” was all Richie said.


End file.
